Blake Lewis has penguin sneakers that squeak when he steps down through his heels. The 3-year-old from Batavia likes them, his mom says, because they cover his leg braces.
Inside Peter Leeper's Milford High School engineering classroom, Blake looks up at Leeper and seven of his students with wide, blue eyes. He seems a bit overwhelmed, and at first doesn't recognize three of his favorite toys sitting on the table: a pig that says "peek-a-boo," a singing fox and a monkey that spins in circles, arms waving.
Blake is wearing a T-shirt that reads: "My little bit of different makes me even more amazing." His mother, Devan Lewis, says Blake suffered a bilateral stroke in utero that caused significant brain damage and was later diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, which affects his fine motor skills and general mobility.
Lewis holds Blake in her lap while senior Pierce Will explains how the toys work now that he and his classmates modified them. Splitting up into three teams, the students took the toys apart, stripped the circuits and rewired them to route through one larger button Blake can use from about a foot away.
"It's not like a test," Pierce told The Enquirer. If they mess up a circuit, the toy is done. "There's no retries."
Lewis guides Blake's hand to a large red button in front of them. He presses down and the pig toy springs to life, moving its arms away from its face and shouting, "peek-a-boo!"
Blake flinches. A few more tries, and his mouth gapes open. He smiles and waves his arms.
'Let's just help people right now.'
Earlier this year, Pierce and his classmates Shreya Terala, Jack McKenney, Brett Rininger, Jonathan Mei, Brendan Cobain and Jack Laing built a custom face mask for 11-year-old Kathryn Ferrara, a Deer Park fifth-grader who was born with Down syndrome and later diagnosed with autism.
Her mother, Kathleen Ferrara, said Kathryn doesn't want things to touch her face, which made mask-wearing impossible. Leeper's students built a face shield that attached to Kathryn's clothes with velcro.
“They’re creating normalcy for our kids and for that we’ll always be grateful," Ferrara said. "Because, you know, life isn’t always easy when you have differences, and especially in a pandemic.”
More: 'Life-changing and life-saving.' Milford HS students build custom mask for student with autism
Leeper said his classes have been partnering with community organizations for about five years now to work on projects that benefit children with special needs. They were introduced to Blake's family through the Clermont County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
These projects get his students invested because there is a "human element," Leeper said. Most students get interested in engineering because they want to help people, but often don't work on real-world problem solving until later in college.
"Let's just help people right now," Leeper said.
Milford's engineering program, provided through Great Oaks Career Campuses, started 11 years ago with just a handful of students. Now there are about 200 students in the program, half of which are freshmen, Leeper said.
In Leeper's room, Pierce brings Blake's fox toy onto the floor of the classroom and sets the button down near Blake. The toys are designed to encourage Blake to move, to crawl. The large "pancake" buttons also make it easier for Blake to play independently, so he can activate the toys on his own, Lewis said.
Lewis holds Blake up near the button and encourages him to tap it with his penguin shoes. Then she lies him down on his stomach. Blake has to use his arms to hold his head up, so he can press the button and watch the fox move and sing.
Under their masks, some of the students quietly sing along to the toys' now-familiar songs. Others snap their fingers or bob their heads to the tunes. Now warmed up, Blake also moves to the music.
Blake's big brother, 5-year-old Brantlee, giggles whenever the toys spin over the wires. He darts around, adjusting the wires when necessary and sneaking button-taps of his own.
He asks his baby brother which toy is his favorite. Blake stares up at him, and then down at the toys.
"He likes the monkey," Brantlee concludes.
When the Lewis family leaves, Leeper asks them to keep in touch and let him know if they have any issues with the toys. His students can always make adjustments.
It feels good whenever they complete a mission or a goal, Pierce says. Helping people is, in essence, "what engineering is."
"How can you just not fall in love with that?" Leeper says.
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